Twins acquire Jaime Garcia from Braves in 3-player deal
Four days and a grand slam later, Jaime Garcia is finally headed to the Twin Cities.
The Minnesota Twins finally completed a deal with the Atlanta Braves on Monday to acquire Garcia, along with catcher Anthony Recker and cash considerations, in exchange for minor-league pitcher Huascar Ynoa.
Minnesota will assume all of Garcia's remaining 2017 salary of $4.55 million, along with $200,000 of Recker's salary, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Atlanta sent only $100,000 to the Twins.
The trade was reported to be nearing completion on Thursday night, but then hit a snag Friday morning due to apparent concerns about the health of the prospect Atlanta was receiving. That delay allowed Garcia to make one final start for the Braves - during which he hit a grand slam - and also let the Braves speak with other teams about a possible deal before ultimately sending him to the Twins anyway.
The Twins are hoping Garcia can boost their starting rotation behind Ervin Santana and help push them to a shocking playoff berth just one year after losing 103 games. At the start of play Monday, Minnesota was just a game back of Kansas City and Tampa Bay for the second AL wild-card spot, and only 2 1/2 back of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central, despite sporting a minus-66 run differential.
Garcia, who turned 31 on July 8, owns a 4.33 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and 85 strikeouts in 18 starts with the Braves this season. He'll be a free agent at season's end.
This will be Garcia's first turn pitching in the American League, having spent his first nine big-league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals prior to being dealt to Atlanta last winter.
Recker has appeared in just six games for Atlanta this season, amassing one hit in seven big-league at-bats. The 33-year-old veteran owns a .223/.301/.381 slash line and four homers at Triple-A Gwinnett this year.
Ynoa, 19, is in his third professional season. The right-hander, a native of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, owns a 5.26 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, and 23 strikeouts to 14 walks over six starts with the Rookie-level Elizabethton Twins this year.